The last time I visited Southern Africa, I was 19 years old, very green around the gills and going to visit a school friend who had been working out there for the year. It was an incredible trip, where we hitchhiked from Uthongathi school outside Durban up to Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and then (I think) I have vague memories of us getting the train to Vic. Falls. My return trip some 34 years later also began in Vic Falls, but very much not the Vic Falls of my youth. The train line is still there, but the train no longer runs and the town has been gentrified for the tourists. Whether this is actually a good thing for the local people is up for debate, and I did have a good chat with one of the owners of the original shopping area that I remember that backed onto the campsite. She was not entirely convinced local people were seeing the benefits as many people come, stay in the big lodges, go on safari, go for a helicopter ride, eat and shop in the hotel complex. We on the other hand stayed a Phe Zulu lodge, a small guest house just outside the main town. It was small, locally run and absolutely fantastic for what we wanted. We were, initially only there the one night.
We joined an Intrepid tour the next day that took us through Botswana and Namibia and then returning to Zimbabwe nine days later. I won’t lie, there was a LOT of driving and a lot of driving on obviously, rough terrain at times, however, the roads were far more improved than I was expecting. I won’t bore you with all the details, suffice to say, highlights of this trip were our night at Elephant Sands Lodge and Nguma lodge in the Okavango Delta in Botswana where we went out in dug out canoes. If you are interested in this trip, then it was the Botswana Highlights trip from their range.
On our return to Zimbabwe, we decided to stay another night and splurge a little after being on the road for nine days, so we did end up in Vic Falls Lodge which is one of the very hotels I bemoaned earlier, however, this was not before we had spent some time and money buying souvenirs from the markets surrounding the town centre.
The next day we were flying down to Cape Town to spend a few days in this city, the mother city.
We often use Get your Guide when we visit places or Klook as there are lots of trips you can join that are guided. We used the app to book both a tour of the Cape peninsula and a cooking class in Bo’Kaap. Both of which were excellent. The trip round the Cape of Good Hope was stunning, ostriches on the beach was not ever an image I thought I’d see, but see it I did!
It really was a superb trip, organised through Trailfinders and we flew with BA, all very seamless. I think the main highlights for me were the number of different wildlife we saw alongside the expected, we also saw a sleeping leopard and (albeit in the distance), humpbacked whales.
My tips for anyone travelling to this part of the world to see wildlife are:
- Pack light, we had to carry our packs and move them, so no suitcases if you’re doing this kind of trip
- Probiotics – we take these on all our trips, high number of CFUs (colony forming units). I like Bettervits, but each to their own.
- Expect long drop loos. Some of our group were unbelievable with the comments regarding the differences between their home countries and the countries we visited (it was perhaps the one down side to the trip) and loos were their main moan. In the bush, in Africa, you may well experience long drop loos. Take loo roll!
- A telephoto lens is not the same as a zoom for photographing wildlife, so if you can make the change, do so.
- Do not forgo strong mosquito repellent. I bought spray and also bands to wear that we impregnated with citronella. We never escape without some bites, but considering we spent much of the trip in the Okavango delta, we came out relatively unscathed.
Places to stay in Vic Falls:
PheZulu Lodge this was where we stayed and loved it. There is a pool and you can book to eat there too. It’s family run and not big or commercialised. It is about 1km out of the main part of town however.
The Shearwater Explorers Lodge – generally booked out by tours, so book directly with the hotel rather than Booking.com as we had some fellow travellers who had their booking cancelled presumably because a tour had come in and you don’t really get the same protection with Booking.com
N1 was the campsite I think we stayed at 34 years ago. Today they have a basic motel in town where one of our group saw a hippo doing a town walkabout from their window!
The Pioneer Hotel is a little out of the way, but looks a really nice oasis.
The Shoestrings Backpackers. This was also here 34 years ago, but blimey, it’s changed. It looks like a really great place to go if you are a solo traveller and want to meet fellow travellers. It’s not a grotty hostel, more a real hub. I would stay there, happily.
